Student, 13, Dies After Apparent Fentanyl Exposure: UPDATE

HARTFORD, CT — A Sports and Medical Science Academy seventh-grade student died Saturday after exposure to suspected fentanyl on Thursday at the school, according to media reports, including NBC CT.

In a statement, according to NBC CT, Mayor Luke Bronin said, “Our city grieves for this child lost, for his loved ones, his friends, his teachers, and the entire SMSA family." Police found about 40 small bags of fentanyl inside two classrooms and the gymnasium at the school on Thursday, NBC CT reports.

Bronin said, via NBC CT, that police are investigating "how a child had access to such a shocking quantity of such deadly drugs..."

The incident began 10:30 a.m. Thursday, when emergency crews responded to the school after a student collapsed, Fox 61 reports. Two other pupils were hospitalized after exposure to the suspected fentanyl.

The school nurse and a student rushed to the fallen student and performed CPR until emergency responders took over, WFSB 3 TV reports. The student was revived and taken to the hospital. Two other students never lost consciousness, media reports state.

Bronin at the time made a plea, according to WTNH News 8, saying that fentanyl is a "poison," and that parents need to tell their children that "if anybody offers or suggests that they experiment with or ingest some substance they think is a drug or they don’t know what it is, don’t do it, stay a mile away and for God’s sake please report it."

Read more at WFSB 3, Fox 61, NBC CT, and WTNH News 8.